*Bing* [The next train is Clarview on track one. Please stand back from the edge of the platform as the train arrives.]
Dylan Philips looked up from his phone to see the incoming L.R.T. pulling up to a packed station. It was 6:03 pm and the platform was filled with commuters returning home from their jobs mingled with students who, like him, were finally done with their classes. Dylan had gotten off the southbound Metro Line train at this station to transfer to the northbound Capital Line train that headed towards Clareview station because he live in NorthEast Edmonton, AB. As inconvenient as it was to have to transfer trains multiple times every day to get to school, he always felt it was better than having to survive living downtown.
Dylan was a third-year at MacEwan University in the department of Arts and Science, majoring in Biology with a minor in Physics. He didn't know what he wanted to do with his degree in these subjects yet, as he only chose them because they were his best subjects and he found them tolerably tedious to study. That isn't to say he's some kind of genius to which studying was unnecessary, in fact, he was just a lazy student. He considered himself a quick learner but still had to spend hours studying to remain in the uppermost ranks among his peers. Instead of doing that, he chose to do as little work as possible to maintain an above-average grade and spend the rest of his time binging light novels and manga.
The L.R.T. came to a stop, the doors opened and people crowded into the five cars. Dylan was of large stature and slightly obese, being 202cm and 120kg, so he was feeling rather mobbed as he moved in all the way to the door opposite the one he entered. 'Damn, it's really packed today.
* sigh* At least it's only a 20-minute ride.' With that thought, he returned to reading a light novel he had found last night about an MC that travels a fantasy world and gains a cheat ability that lets him learn any skill without class restrictions.
[Please stand back to allow the doors to close. Next stop Stadium station.]
With a small teeter the train began moving through the tunnel towards its destination, and after it passed the end of the platform it accelerated to its cruising speed. As it moved through the tunnel, the car would occasionally jostle and the wheels would make a screech but these were all familiar to the frequent passengers. However, after a few moments of travelling the automated announcement started playing again on a loop.
[Next stop Stadium station. Next stop Sta....]
Confused Dylan looked up from his phone again, 'Is something malfunctioning? Well whatever it is, I hope it doesn't mean the train has to stop. I wanna get home quickly and...'
As if on cue the train lurched forward as it began accelerating again which elicited shouts from the startled passengers. The lights on the tunnel walls were passing by outside the windows so fast that they started to look like a solid line of light.
[...m station. Next stop Stadium station. Next st...]
"What's happening?!" a middle-aged woman yelled.
"Everyone relax! The conductor is probably just going faster than normal because the train is behind schedule and will affect the schedule of other trains if it doesn't catch up" The words from a young man in a suit were followed by murmurs of agreement.
[...ium station. Next stop Stadium stat...]
Despite the conversation that has erupted among the passengers, Dylan couldn't take his eyes off the window, 'This is wrong, we should have left the tunnel already even if we didn't speed up, where are we going and why so fast? Wait!? Is the light getting bigger?' He watched as the line of light started expanding covering more of the darkness outside the train. The phenomenon slowly drew the attention of the other passengers who were focused on their conversation and they all watch in shocked silence as the light kept expanding until it was all they could see outside the window.
[...xt stop Stadium station. Next stop Stadium station. Next stop Stadi...*bzzt*]
All at once, everything turned dark and the looping automated announcement cut out. Screams erupted everywhere as people panicked in the absolute darkness, and they could feel the train getting faster once more. Dylan grabbed onto the safety bar harder and felt the weight of the people around him pressing against his body as they struggled to resist the inertia of the accelerating train.
The cacophony of screaming people, howling wind, and screeching wheels came to an abrupt halt and everyone was thrown forward. The lights flickered on and, while groaning, people started to get up followed by a wave of crying and yelling.
"What happened?"
"Did we crash?!"
"My-MY ARM!!!"
"HELP!! I'm bleeding"
"CALM DOWN! Anyone with first aid training help the wounded, and some of you start calling 911. Don't all start calling at once or you'll just clog up the line." The young man in the suit took charge as soon as he stood upright and most people calmed down with the appearance of someone to tell them what to do. Two people announced their first aid skills and started squeezing through the crowd towards people with injuries while several dozen started using their phones.
"Hey! My phone isn't working!"
"Mine too! I've got no service."
"Damn, we must still be too far in the tunnel to get reception." the man in the suit said as he pulled the emergency help alarm and the intercome between all cars came on,
[Ow... Yeah? This is the conductor, is everyone okay?]
"What the hell happened!? People are hurt back here and we can't call 911!"
[I don't know either, the controls stopped responding after we left Churchill station, I couldn't even turn on the intercom until now...]
Dylan had already gotten up by now and was looking around for his cellphone which he had dropped when he was thrown forward. He decided to give up as he couldn't see it in the immediate surrounding and there were too many people around him to look properly. Looking up at the window, Dylan paused once again because it was covered in a layer of dust or dirt so thick that he couldn't see anything through it. 'No... it's not just this window, it's all of them.' He thought as he looked around at the other windows on the car.
[...look, like I've been saying, I can't reach anybody on the radio either. Hell! I can't even see out the windshield!]
"huh?" The man in the suit looked around at the windows for the first time, as did most of the surrounding passengers before they started whispering.
"What do we do?" someone finally asked the man in the suit.
After staying silent for a moment, he spoke towards the intercome "We should open the doors and see how far away the end of the tunnel is, maybe we can get out and call for help."
[...uhh... It's probably dangerous to move around if we did crash, besides even if we can't call for help directly when the control center sees that the train isn't moving and isn't responding they'll send emergency personal to investigate. We should just sit tight and wait for them to get here."
"Wait? How long would it take? Minutes? Hours? We're packed in here like sardines and we can't even properly help the injured because of how crowded it is in here. We should at least open the doors to have a look at the situation outside before we make a decision."
[but...uhh...fine, but the automatic doors are down so you'll have to manually release the hydraulic locks using the emergency door lock release above the doors.]
"You heard him." The man in the suit swept his eyes across the crowd and met Dylan's eyes "Hey, Big Guy, there's a lever right by your head, open the door behind you."
Dylan was startled to be called out all of a sudden but fumbled with the lever as he was told anyway. He turn it and heard the hiss of the hydraulic locks releasing. He pulled the door open and took his first look outside, then froze.
Cold sweat began to run down his back as he took in the sight of a thick, primordial forest laying about 100 meters from the open door of the L.R.T. In his shock, he whispered, "Where am I?"